AI agents now help marketers audit and optimize campaigns faster. Stagwell’s new workflow connects Microsoft Copilot to live ad data. Human expertise remains central to every decision.
Stagwell has become the first global media group to embed Microsoft Copilot, powered by Model Context Protocol (MCP), directly into its paid-search workflow. This integration, now live within Assembly Global’s operations, is designed to enhance auditing, reporting, and optimization for Microsoft Advertising campaigns. Rather than replacing marketers, the system aims to amplify their expertise by automating time-consuming analysis and surfacing actionable insights.
According to Dan Roberts, global senior vice president of search at Stagwell Media Platform, the pilot program connected Copilot to active campaigns managed by Assembly. The focus was on streamlining audits, reporting, and opportunity discovery, not on running campaigns autonomously. Roberts noted that while many initially expected AI to transform campaign management through conversational interfaces, experienced marketers were already efficient at those tasks. The real value, he said, came from AI’s ability to analyze large volumes of campaign data, identify trends, and automate repetitive processes, allowing practitioners to focus on strategy and client outcomes.
Copilot translates natural-language requests into API calls, retrieves campaign data, and delivers structured recommendations. The agent sits alongside marketers, accessing live Microsoft Advertising data in real time and applying Assembly’s audit frameworks automatically across accounts and markets. Outputs are delivered as client audits and optimization suggestions, with marketers retaining full control over decisions. For example, when prompted to review all campaigns for optimization opportunities, the agent can audit and report findings in minutes, eliminating the need for manual review.
Stagwell’s agency GALE led the development of The Media Machine, an AI-powered agentic operating system built in collaboration with Assembly and Stagwell Media Platform. The Media Machine automates media planning, buying, and reporting across platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok, using more than 20 intelligent agents. Human oversight is required for every decision, ensuring that expertise remains at the core of the process.
This approach reflects a broader industry movement toward agentic systems that support, rather than replace, human practitioners. Similar efforts to adapt digital infrastructure for AI-driven workflows have been reported elsewhere, such as when major publishers began redesigning their sites for agentic search, as discussed in coverage of publishers optimizing for AI agents.
